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Tripping With the Wizard
by Matt Smith
I've been an Electric Wizard fan since Come My Fanatics and I have to say the new album,Witchcult Today more than met my expectations, and is right up there with Dopethrone, which is, in my opinion, one of the most important albums in the Stoner Doom genre. So, on a cold full moon night in January, I was lucky enough to have a chat with the Wizard himself, Jus Oborn telephoning from his attic room in Dorset, England.
GASP: So how’s it goin, Jus?
Jus: Excellent, man, it’s late but I’m hanging in there.
GASP: Cool, glad to hear that. I wrote a review for Witchcult Today and the one major point I made in my review was that the Wizard is back.
Jus: That’s cool, I hope people think that. But we were never really gone, we just went sort of a bit wayward.
GASP: I hear you, we all go wayward at some point. How was it working with Liam Watson on Witchcult?
Jus: It was very cool, he’s a really cool guy. I mean, a lot of people made me worried saying oh it’s a producer and he’s gonna fuck with the songs, but he wasn’t like that at all and he’s a really cool guy and he’s really into underground shit. He’s very possessed by what he does. And he’s great to work with. He’s not into doom but he’s into fucked up underground music. It gave us an edge and I enjoyed working with that.
GASP: Sometimes it’s good to have that in a producer, you know like a set of fresh ears.
Jus: Yeah definitely, like wild ideas that people wouldn’t normally have done. I appreciate that.
GASP: Since Cathedral’s Forest of Equilibrium and Winter's Into Darkness I had been looking for a band that was as doomy if not doomier and I’m happy to say I found that in Electric Wizard.
Jus: Cool. Yeah, things we sort of grew out of.
GASP: Since Cathedral kind of dropped that extreme doom sound for a more upbeat doom sound it made me even hungrier for more doom. The first Wizard album sounds like it has a lot of Forest of Equilibrium influence. Was Forest an inspiration for the Wizard back then?
Jus: It’s difficult to say, one thing is, the album was recorded at the same studio as Forest of Equilibrium, same producer and everything so that might have had a big effect on it and I was really into Cathedral at the time but we were really more like (in a serious voice) "we’re going to be like Sabbath, we’re gonna do it just like Sabbath." (laughs)
GASP: Cool, so it did have some sort of influence even though it wasn’t entirely a direct one. 
Jus: It did influence us because it felt like there was something happening with heavier bands coming up and Cathedral were kind of leading it at that point.
GASP: I agree totally because I had not heard a doomier album like that ever up to that point in my life. Then they put out Ethereal Mirror, which is a good album but it was no Forest.
Jus: Yeah, they went the big producer route but it didn’t turn out quite as successfully as it did for us. I mean, when you’re recording an album it can be very hard to judge it while you’re doing it. You don’t realize until afterwards what you’ve done. “What have I done?” (laughs) But you get a chance to rectify it.
GASP: Yeah. On the Come My Fanatics track, "Ivixor B / Phase Inducer" it sounds like there might be a MOOG synthesizer in the mix. Do you guys use analog synthesizers at all?
Jus: Yeah, “Ivixor B” has got an old KORG synth on it.
GASP: Yeah, I love that old analog stuff. Like MOOG synths.
Jus: Yeah, because you can manipulate it as you go along and shit. We used to have a MOOG on the new record and one of those oscillators, an old fuckin thing I forget what they’re called, you know with sine waves and shit. It was like some fuckin 50’s thing with wheels on it and you can change the modulation and the sine waves for each one.
GASP: I know what you’re talking about and that stuff is great. You can get such otherworldly sounds from synths like that.
Jus: Yeah, there’s something more frightening about that.
GASP: Yeah, the digital just doesn’t do it for me.
Jus: Yeah, sometimes the limitations of the older equipment made people work with that and made it sound good. It’s like the new stuff is like how many reverbs can I get and they all sound like shit.
 GASP: I agree totally. You draw a lot of inspiration from Black Magic and HP Lovecraft in your song lyrics, have you been interested in this stuff since childhood?
Jus: I’ve been interested in Lovecraft since I was in school and horror movies since I was like 4 or 5 years old, I’ve always liked horror movies and I was interested in the occult by you know like 10 or 11. My father had a bunch of books on black magic and stuff, you know, it was big in the 70’s. (laughs) The idea you could have power beyond the physical realm even at that age was very enticing.
GASP: Definitely, I had similar experiences in my early teens with books like that and that’s what really drew me to heavy metal, the dark imagery and mysterious energy about it.
Jus: Yeah, and when I discovered metal it was like here’s the soundtrack to my fuckin obsessions.
GASP: Do you consider yourself a Satanist?
Jus: I wouldn’t think so, no. I mean what is a fuckin Satanist? (laughs)
GASP: ...and that’s the point I’m getting to. I’m fascinated by the imagery and myth behind it but personally, Anton LaVey was a fascinating person in my opinion, but once I read the Satanic Bible that really ruined it for me because I was so disappointed by it.
Jus: Yeah, it’s like a hippie fuckin essay.
GASP: I have a VHS tape of an Anton LaVey black mass and it’s really rather boring.
Jus: Yeah, it’s kind of kitschy.
GASP: Personally I like made up shit like Lovecraft, I mean with The Necronomicon, he created this whole lore about what he thought Satanic rituals were and made them really creepy and like they were from ancient satanic scrolls. And what it comes down to is all religions are based on some kind of myth and this was some of the inspiration for the creation of the Satanic myth.
Jus: I’ve argued this point with people a lot of times, they say they’re a Satanist and I say then who have you sacrificed? And they say Satanists don’t sacrifice people, and I’m like fuck off then! (laughs) Real Satanists kidnap kids, sacrifice people and do real evil shit. So to answer your question, no I don’t consider myself a Satanist.
GASP: I didn’t think so. The Church of Satan is like any other church, it’s got dogma and all other kinds of rules to follow and that turned me off.
Jus: I’m interested in the imagery, the exploitative elements and I’m interested in the fear it causes in certain people.
GASP: Yeah, the fear of the unknown.
Jus: We like to play upon that. You know, people used to be scared of the long hair kids at school, they thought were worshipping the devil and shit. They’ve sort of lost that fear, and it seems everyone likes metal now and they’ve lost that fear of the dark part of it. We try and get to the freaky kid at school. (laughs)
GASP: “Satanic Rites Of Drugula" by the way, is one of THE best Wizard song titles EVER in my opinion.
 Jus: Thank you, it worked because I was like fuck, this is the best song title ever and it’s gonna work and everyone was like uhh, I don’t get it. (laughs) Fuck you, I’m gonna be huge because of this fuckin song title. (laughs)
GASP: And it made me instantly think of Aleister Crowley’s “Diary of a Drug Fiend”, you know, shit like that.
Jus: (laughs) There was a mixture of influences for those concepts and that was definitely in there.
GASP: Yeah, “Black Magic Rituals & Perversions” is absolutely my favorite track on Witchcult.
Jus: Oh you like that? Some people hate it and some people love it.
GASP: I love it, I can just zone out to it for like 10 minutes or so. Are these types of songs like “Black Magic Rituals & Perversions” from direct inspiration of personal psychedelic drug use you've experienced or are you just creating it from your imagination?
Jus: I’m definitely trying to recreate the feeling I had when I was having bad trips on LSD and mushrooms and shit and the reason I enjoy that state and I’m definitely trying to recreate that moment. It is recreating it you know. And I knew what kind of music I liked to listen to when I was freaking on acid, you know the tracks that would push you over the edge and I wanted to recreate that for our band.
GASP: And you definitely succeed, ever since the Come My Fanatics album.
Jus: Yeah, that’s what we always wanted to achieve, you know, what I want to hear in a song to trip to.
GASP: Do you think mind expanding substances somehow open the doors to our inner psyche and make us more susceptible to welcoming satanic and or black magic influences?
Jus: Yeah, it definitely makes you question the realities, you know how things work in the world. I think from my use of drugs I really questioned a lot of things, you know like the occult and questioning that and not just taking the world is the world and that’s that view. People want to question that and the occult leads towards that. It might not be the answer but…
GASP: And it opens your mind to different ways of thinking.
Jus: Definitely, I’m not the same person I was after tripping for the first time.
GASP: Me neither and I had some cool revelations about the way the world thinks and works the first time I tripped. It twists your perceptions of everything.
Jus: Yeah, and maybe something I’ve written would click in someone’s brain some where while they’re tripping, that would be cool. (laughs)
GASP: (laughs) Yeah. Have you had any heavy acid experiences you can remember?
Jus: Well, it’s been a long time since I was a heavy tripper you know, I usually stick to mushrooms if I’m gonna do it now. You know they’re gonna even out quicker. I always carry the visions, you know the revelations I keep with me forever from my acid days and I believe them to be my true beliefs, and you know I like some of the stupid childish things that happened. (laughs)
GASP: The first time my buddy and I tripped we thought we were witnessing a Noah’s Ark type of flood and we were freaking out. We were on the top floor of an apartment building so were figured we’d be safe. (laughs)
Jus: (laughs) The last time I did acid it was kind of freaky because I felt more normal than I ever felt in my life and it was fuckin weird. When you’re 18 and fuckin freaking out listening to St. Vitus and imagining fuckin crows climbing up the wall and psychedelic shit. (laughs)
GASP: (laughs) That's crazy shit. What are your thoughts on the afterlife?
Jus: Well, I’m a person who needs to see something to believe it, you know. Which is why I’m not a Satanist. I question it, I wanna know stuff I don’t know. It’s the final journey I guess and we’ll get to find out one day.
GASP: I’m on the fence between believing in reincarnation and absolutely nothing, this is it, make the best of it before it’s over.
Jus: Like maybe you paid someone in another life to come to this life, you know crazy shit like that. Maybe you chose to be here. There’s so many questions, how could I ever think of what could really happen? The brain is just a very very complex machine that gives the illusion of the possibilities.
GASP: Moving onto a topic a little less heavy, Electric Wizard, in my opinion, is a legend in the Stoner Doom genre, do you agree with that or do you just consider yourselves another metal band?
Jus: I wouldn’t say we’re another metal band, I’d like to think we’re trying to put something different out there. I think being a classic doom band is something that we just got to by default. I think we’re the only one fucking left. (laughs) I think if you’re around long enough they consider you classic or some shit. (laughs)
GASP: Yeah and these days it only takes like 5 years to become legendary status.
Jus: Yeah, totally. We been going for like 14 years so if anyone deserves it we fuckin do. (laughs)
GASP: I agree, you have a great legacy.
 Jus: Yeah, I mean I look back at Come My Fanatics and I recorded that 12 years ago, and for me I can’t imagine playing it anymore, but it’s cool, I can listen to it like it’s my album and I enjoy it.
GASP: Do you ever envision Stoner Doom breaking into commercial rock radio say like 'lica did?
Jus: I mean the world is fucked up at the moment so it could just happen. (laughs) I mean there’s weirder shit happening, I would hope so, it would be cool. It’s a fucked up world, anything can happen.
GASP: I agree. All it takes is one song for people to latch on to and you're famous.
Jus: I mean you should see some of the fans we get now, like these model chicks into Electric Wizard, it’s weird, it’s fuckin weird! I was looking at some magazine with a model chick on it and there’s a picture of her in a room and there’s a fuckin St. Vitus album behind her. I’m like what the fuck? (laughs)
GASP: The times have changed, that’s for sure. Are the fans at shows in England different from the US?
Jus: It’s the same all over, on both sides. I mean we haven’t played the states in a long time and the audiences are pretty big here in Europe at the moment. The people are the same. Everyone in Europe thinks the US is better and everyone in the US thinks Europe is better.
GASP: We have this idea that Electric Wizard plays big theaters in Europe and then you come over to the US and play clubs like the Middle East. (laughs)
Jus: (laughs) We have a bit of that, I mean in Europe we’ll play to more fuckin people than I’ve ever seen like 4,000 seat venues and then for 20 people in some fuckin underground club, I like playing the underground clubs.
GASP: You probably enjoy each one for what they are.
Jus: Yeah. I mean when it’s 2 people in a 4,000 seater that’s when it’s tough. (laughs)
GASP: Speaking of a tour, what are your touring plans for Witchcult, and when are you planning on hitting the US?
Jus: Good question, I don’t know, maybe the end of the year, I don’t make any promises. (laughs) Once I do I’ll get bombarded with 20,000 e-mails. (laughs)
GASP: So sometime this year is safe to say?
Jus: Likely later this year. I want to pick a good nice time to come. (laughs)
GASP: Come around the summer time or Halloween. I can’t wait, it’s been too long.
Jus: It’s gonna fucking kill now with the 2 guitars.
GASP: Fuck yeah, last time I saw you it was the three-piece. It must be so much fuller sounding.
Jus: It’s really cool and our new drummer Shawn is very much in the style of our original drummer except he doesn’t get so wasted that he doesn’t know what fuckin song he’s playing. (laughs)
GASP: (laughs) Well that’s always a good thing.
Jus: Yeah, he’s cool.
GASP: Can you envision Electric Wizard writing radio friendly songs? Like a 3 or 4 minute song for the radio?
Jus: Well I could write it, but would we play it? (laughs) It’s a big compromise to do shit like that. I mean I’ve got this fucked up idea that maybe a band could get big just by being the best it could be. That’s a bit hippyish of me. (laughs)
GASP: I have the same philosophy, as long as you’re creating something you love then maybe one day masses of other people will dig it too.
Jus: Yeah, people pick up on the energy of a band, that can account for a lot. Kids pick up on that, they’re not musicians, they’re not analyzing what you’re fuckin playing and shit, they just know it’s killer shit. (laughs)
GASP: I know what you mean.
Jus: A lot of bands play for other bands and it’s a trap not to fall into. You want to be playing for 20,000 freaks out there.
GASP: I saw the Sword at the Middle East a few weeks ago and the place was packed, I was amazed at what a following they’ve accumulated.
Jus: People are into it and that’s fuckin good.
GASP: To me it’s a sign that people are sick of the commercial metal and want something different.
Jus: I mean you’ve got the emo piss at the moment and five years ago it was all fuckin black metal, what the fuck was that shit about? (laughs) There was reaction against that fuckin shit I’ll tell ya.
GASP: Well, it was cool talking to you Jus. I look forward to seeing you guys when you tour the states.
Jus: We’ll make it to Rhode Island at least at some point. I like playing Providence.
GASP: Yeah, hometown of Lovecraft. I’ll definitely watch out for it.
Jus: Definitely, cheers man! See you soon, bye.
GASP: Yup, bye.
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